Verse 14:[1] (1 Sam. 14:28) Then answered the five men that went to spy out the country of Laish, and said unto their brethren, Do ye know that (Judg. 17:5) there is in these houses an ephod, and teraphim, and a graven image, and a molten image? now therefore consider what ye have to do.
[They said] Hebrew: They answered.[2] According to Hebrew usage, to answer is the same thing as to begin a speech (Martyr).
Then answered, that is, spake, the word answering being oft used in Scripture of the first speaker, as 1 Kings 1:28; 13:6; Ezra 10:2; Isaiah 14:10.[3]
[In those houses] In the house of Micah and of the Levite. For they appear to have dwelt separately, verse 15. Could it be a plural in the place of a singular? Perhaps it was a large house, which was consisting of many, and in one of them the Levite was dwelling. This is quite satisfying (Drusius).
In those houses, that is, in one of these houses, the plural number for the singular, as Judges 12:7.[4]
[Consider what might be pleasing to you, וְעַתָּ֖ה דְּע֥וּ מַֽה־תַּעֲשֽׂוּ׃] Know what ye would do (Pagnine). See, or decide (know [Junius and Tremellius]) what ye are going to do (Vatablus, Junius and Tremellius): that is, As we have done, verse 5, consult ye those gods concerning your expedition (Junius). Consider whether it is expedient to carry off all these things by force, or not (Bonfrerius). Do ye not desire to carry these off, so that they might be of use to us, just as they have already been on one occasion (Piscator).
Consider what ye have to do, that is, whether it be not expedient, either, 1. To consult them again for your own satisfaction; or rather, 2. To take them away for your further use, as you shall have occasion; for their action is the best comment upon their words.
[1] Hebrew: וַֽיַּעֲנ֞וּ חֲמֵ֣שֶׁת הָאֲנָשִׁ֗ים הַהֹלְכִים֮ לְרַגֵּל֮ אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ לַיִשׁ֒ וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ אֶל־אֲחֵיהֶ֔ם הַיְדַעְתֶּ֗ם כִּ֠י יֵ֣שׁ בַּבָּתִּ֤ים הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙ אֵפ֣וֹד וּתְרָפִ֔ים וּפֶ֖סֶל וּמַסֵּכָ֑ה וְעַתָּ֖ה דְּע֥וּ מַֽה־תַּעֲשֽׂוּ׃
[2] Hebrew: וַיַּעֲנוּ.
[3] Isaiah 14:10: “All they shall speak (יַעֲנוּ/answer) and say unto thee, Art thou also become weak as we? art thou become like unto us?”
[4] Judges 12:7: “And Jephthah judged Israel six years. Then died Jephthah the Gileadite, and was buried in one of the cities of Gilead (בְּעָרֵ֥י גִלְעָֽד׃, in the cities of Gildead).”
Good lesson today... I think the plural "houses" is significant to show that Micah's idolatry did indeed spread. Oh that we would be aware of the spreading influences of sin!
Sin really is like unto leaven (1 Corinthians 5); it only takes a pinch to spread through the entire lump. Micah's idolatry spreads to the Levite...and to the five Danite spies...and now to an entire tribe.
"Purge out the old leaven that ye might be a new lump..."
Matthew Henry: 'The Danites had sent out their spies to find out a country for them, and they sped well in their search; but here, now that they came to the place (for till this brought it to their mind it does not appear that they had mentioned it to their brethren), they oblige them with a further discovery—they can tell them where there are gods: "Here, in these houses, there are an ephod, and teraphim, and a great many fine things for devotion, such as we have not the like in our country; now therefore consider what you have to do, Judges 18:14. We consulted them, and had a good answer from them; they are worth having, nay, the…
Hebrew Highlight: Is the plural of houses significant? or has the plural been put in place of the singular?